#tldr it is weak and dumb

[laundryandtaxes]

It's insane that Columbia bent the knee in terms of cracking down on its own students and faculty for the sake of making peace with the Trump administration. For the purpose of appeasing wealthy donor alumni, it is at least entirely reasonable as a method of self preservation, if still disgusting. For the sake of appeasing an administration that hates academia in general, it's just stupid, for two major reasons. The first is that the executive branch does not control the country's purse strings, and no president has the right to withdraw funds already allocated by Congress, or to rewrite contracts in which both parties are already engaged- this is obviously quite the gamble, but I think it is clear that this Court would give them their money back because it already belonged to them and I suspect that John Roberts is physically itching right now at the chance to have his juridical legacy include preventing America from developing a king. However, it is no bigger gamble to take it to court than it is to simply cross their fingers and hope that the Trump admin backs off after appeasing them once, which leads to the second point of obvious idiocy. Now that Columbia has behaved as though the Trump admin has a legitimate right to withhold already allocated funds from them in exchange for certain concessions, it is entirely reasonable and predictable that the Trump admin could come back with a new set of demands at any time and it would be reasonable for them to expect compliance. What's to stop them from demanding, in 6 months, that Columbia eliminate its women studies courses, for instance, or eliminate certain texts from their syllabi, or even include specific texts the administration wishes to promote?

Obviously, it would have taken time for them to get their money back because the courts are slow, but the notion that they've done anything by buckling other than signal that they're entirely willing to play an entirely illegitimate ballgame for the sake of peace which is not guaranteed to last any amount of time is nonsense. It would have been a tough semester or year or several for Columbia without their allocated funds, but the fundamental problem that the institution relies on federal funds and the federal government changes very regularly will not be solved or ameliorated by simply shrugging and hoping that Trump doesn't ask for further concessions when he now has absolutely no reason not to. They're not going to be able to get around the fact that the executive branch is going to be in the hands of a party that hates them and everything that they stand for for several more years.

[hugthesquids]

Garnet's biggest flaw

So I’ve seen many people in the fandom state that Garnet has no flaws or virtually no flaws outside her co-dependence in the form of Ruby and Sapphire. But that’s not true.

No character is perfect and Garnet is no exception as she carries with her some fundamental flaws that I find interesting exploring. In fact, her flaws are in a way very ironic to her character.

Btw she’s an excellent character and this is by no means to discredit her or anything. If anything, I think it’s good that characters have flaws and aren’t perfect as it gives depth to them, and SU is all about not putting anyone on a pedestal.

(There is a TLDR at the end)

Garnet is bad at communicating

Despite often preaching about the importance of communication in any relationship, Garnet has major trouble in this department.

Even after Garnet opens up later on in the seasons, she still struggles in this aspect.

There are many times where Garnet doesn’t explain a thing to others like Steven, and because of this lack of communication, he ends in trouble. In fact, Garnet often resorts to letting her actions speak for her.

And with Steven in particular, someone who needs guidance, it becomes a tough point for him. And it often lands him in trouble.

In a way, Garnet acts like the subversion of the old troupe of “learning your lesson the hard way”. She follows this line of reasoning, and yet she fails to consider that this isn’t a healthy way for Steven to learn. SU likes to subvert classic cartoon troupes, deconstructing them like how all the cartoony heroic adventures were actually traumatising for Steven and hindered his development in a healthy way.

So letting Steven “learn his lesson” with stuff like the proposal in SUF, it actually became the turning point in him spiralling so badly.

It hurt him so much (already dealing with a loss on what to do in life, losing trust in those nearest to him, losing his support system, lots of unresolved trauma bubbling through as Steven freshly processes how screwed up his life was and why he’s struggling so much now), and it essentially started the huge domino effect to what later happens in SUF.

(I’m not excusing Steven’s own actions, though as we’ve seen, he has things that contributed to the path that was taken. For this post, I’m focusing on Garnet’s stake in all this.)

The proposal, a point of neglect

I think the proposal especially highlights this weakness from Garnet in several ways. First a little background from Steven’s PoV.

He reached out to a guardian that he trusted and admitted he didn’t know what to do with his life, who only turned back and said he should’ve known better and he was dumb for listening to Ruby and Sapphire.

This is when we’ve just learned that Steven was scared at opening up to people because he’s afraid that it’ll push them away but Steven anyway worked up the courage to ask Garnet, who only told him she didn’t have time for him and let Ruby and Sapphire take charge.

This is also just after learning that Steven wasn’t socialised properly and doesn’t understand human conventions too (so he didn’t know it was weird to propose as 16 either. Most of his knowledge comes from cartoons and other media, where Steven himself loved reading books about adventures falling in love like The Unfamiliar Familiar, so this stuff was normal to him. Still not okay, but he was neglected socially.)

(Btw this also adds to Steven’s frustration with his dad later on, as the proposal stuff hurt so much and he didn’t know it was a bad thing to do as Steven was unfamiliar with human stuff and what to even do with his life and his dad didn’t provide that guidance and neither did the gems.)

Steven isn’t the one that brings up the proposal, that is a very important fact.

Steven opens up to Garnet, who dismisses him and lets him talk to Ruby and Sapphire, who are the ones that tell him to propose. Ruby eggs him on even as he goes “really?” and even then he doesn’t immediately do it but double checks by going to Sapphire, the one that Steven trusts to be the logical one of the pair. Ruby and Sapphire are still his guardians, and Steven has made it very clear that he struggles with knowing what to do with himself.

So imagine the betrayal that Steven feels, when his guardians, the ones he trusted and had trouble opening up to but decided anyway, just brushes his feelings off and makes it all his fault for trusting his family, essentially calling him dumb and makes it all about being a hard lesson for he himself not realising it was a foolish idea.

We as the audience know he didn’t have the tools to know, neglected socially and traumatised, and that he was in a very bad headspace.

And even the gems have seen Steven has not been in a great headspace for a while prior to this.

Robbed of agency

But because Garnet just accepts the future she “sees”, expects it to come and sees it as inevitable, she forgets to take responsibility.

She didn’t help him afterwards even if she could. She didn’t tell the other gems and left him all night and day after to be alone in his slump even though Garnet knew he was miserable and in a sensitive spot and wanted to reach out for support (like calling Greg). Instead he was left to spiral in those bad thoughts and feelings with no sympathy or aftercare.

Garnet let her role as Steven’s guardian slip.

She essentially robs both Steven’s agency with the proposal by saying it was inevitable, but also robs herself of her own agency to act. All because she believes her visions are certain and there is no reason to act otherwise.

But we know this is false, her visions aren’t certain!

Future vision

Garnet’s “visions” are merely calculations. She doesn’t see the future but calculates likely outcomes. Garnet herself has admitted that several times, but continues to contradict it as she still falls back to her habit.

Sapphire’s future vision coupled with Ruby's influence that lets her see multiple outcomes, gives Garnet the notion that she knows what will happen.

Steven's complaint that Garnet thinks that she "knows better" is an interesting one, because in a way, he’s right.

Garnet inadvertently robs other people of their agency by over-relying on her visions. In her eyes she knows they won't change, that they will always do this.

And that also inadvertently robs herself of her own agency.

It’s kind of ironic too, because if she truly could see the future in all certainty, she should’ve known that Steven would spiral badly after the proposal and needed support. But that’s the thing, Garnet doesn’t know better, she doesn’t see everything or every outcome.

The biggest irony of this is that despite Garnet being a fusion, has a whole spiel about how conversation is important in any relationship, how her own existence was due to Ruby defying what Sapphire “saw”, Garnet herself is often a hypocrite to her own ideals.

The episode "Future Pool" is proof that her vision is flawed, as it isn't really future vision, but a probability calculator based on the facts she knows (which is also why Garnet never predicted Rose being Pink Diamond or all other numerous surprising things). Even Sapphire in SUF shows it’s all a probability calculation that she’s running.

Even Garnet didn’t predict Bluebird to turn on Steven and all and try to kill him. If she even “saw” that possibility, she didn’t even warn Steven and she egged him on to give her a chance.

But ironically, Garnet didn’t really “learn her lesson” in these episodes, did she? Not the crux of it at least. Her future vision was getting more and more inaccurate in “Future Pool” as she couldn’t get a read on how Steven had grown as a person and wasn’t behaving as expected.

But instead of stepping back and assessing whether she should reconsider her relationship with the ability, as Steven tires to nudge her to think for herself instead of over-relying on visions that aren’t set in stone, Garnet goes back to the same as usual as she learns Steven had matured and factors that in to get back her more accurate future calculations.

Pink’s palanquin

Another example of Garnet robbing people of their agency and being bad at communicating is when Greg was kidnapped by Blue Diamond.

Instead of communicating to Steven that Blue Diamond was in Korea and that she would kidnap Greg if they went there, she just told him to not go.

Steven was at this point super frustrated at the gems not telling him anything and not communicating, while his rising frustration (and trauma) with the gem stuff was rising and he didn’t want to be constantly dismissed and denying knowing about this gem past that was affecting him so much now.

But again, Garnet is bad at communicating.

And when Steven goes to Korea, she robs Steven of his agency by saying this would've happened regardless.

Realistically speaking, if Garnet sat down and talked with Steven, acknowledging his feelings instead of dismissing them and how he felt about his heritage and Rose, (which has been a huge contributor in going into Korea in the first place, being denied his feelings) and Garnet actually explained Blue was there and the consequences going there, Steven would've likely not gone.

But in this twist of irony, Garnet denies her own agency with her flawed view on her vision, doesn't make an effort in communicating with Steven, it ends up fulfilling her vision.

Denying responsibility

It's very interesting that being the leader of the team, the one everyone looks up to, she sometimes struggles acknowledging fault or responsibility.

It’s not that she doesn’t ever not admit fault to something, she has admitted plenty of times. But there are times where she’s steadfast in not having any responsibility or that she had a part in too.

And this stands as an interesting contrast to her companions in the cast, Amethyst and Pearl, who are often confronted with their issues and are expected to change their mind or admit fault.

But there are many times where Garnet simply denies her doing anything wrong. And being the de facto leader, it gets accepted.

Garnet was still very responsible for the proposal thing. And even if Ruby and Sapphire were the ones telling Steven to propose, Garnet could’ve unfused, let the two of them take responsibility and apologise to Steven.

She just brushes it off as them being lovebirds so it’s okay for them to almost ruin Steven’s closest relationship and pins it as his fault for trusting them, despite them being his guardians who he opened up to with a sensitive issue. She denies Ruby and Sapphire their agency and even justifies their bad behaviour because love (but at the same time faults Steven to act on his emotions, despite being actually considerate enough to ask his guardians whether this was a good idea).

Garnet is still responsible for Ruby and Sapphire, because even if Garnet is technically her own person, Ruby and Sapphire are still a part of her and the two of them can choose to become her at any time just as Garnet can choose to become Ruby and Sapphire any time.

Fusion

And that’s another flaw Garnet has. She thinks she “knows better” about fusion, just because she’s a permafusion for thousands of years.

And while she does have a lot of sage and good advice about fusion

She still has her flaws about it. And often lets fusion become a scapegoat for her own responsibility or other people’s.

Like when Sugilite runs rampage.

They don’t even apologise to either Steven or Pearl for all the hurt Sugilite had caused (heck, she almost seemed fine with killing Pearl or at least being fine with all the destruction she caused. Steven even had his bones cracked when a huge boulder hit his face due to Sugilite).

Even if Sugilite wouldn’t be able to apologise, Garnet and Amethyst still could as it was their decision to fuse in the first place even with Pearl’s warnings that they tend to lose control. In fact, Garnet was the one to bring up fusing with Amethyst in the first place.

The only comment Garnet makes afterwards is how Sugilite overworked their bodies and that’s why they’re tired at the end of unfusing. No apology for the hurt they caused.

It’s an interesting contrast to how other fusions act.

Smoky is still apologising on Steven’s behalf with the havoc caused in “Guidance”. Steven apologises to Mega Pearl for Pearl and Pink Pearl, since the trip to the Reef didn’t turn out well. Even Stevonnie is treated as both their fusion and Steven and Connie, and Stevonnie treats themself as that too.

Meanwhile Garnet flip flops between being the result of Ruby and Sapphire’s actions to having no responsibility for Ruby and Sapphire.

Garnet even excuses Bluebird, saying Steven can’t judge her just because she’s a fusion of two of Steven’s enemies that wanna murder him. Which first of all, that was his house and he has every right to not want some strangers invited in there, let alone the fusion of his previous murderers.

Second of all, he absolutely can judge people based on their components. In fact, Garnet is yet again a hypocrite as she really likes Stevonnie, Smoky and all the other fusions because they’re the fusions of their friends. She doesn’t treat them as just their own people, the components matter too with the relationship she has to them. Garnet likes Fluorite, sure, but she isn’t family. But Smoky Quartz is family even at first sight, just because they’re a fusion of Amethyst and Steven.

Reflection

Garnet is by no means perfect, and that’s what makes her a good character. She has flaws like everyone else, just as she has strengths like everyone else.

She doesn’t mean ill with any of this. A lot of it is her being well-meaning too, and she tries a lot to be a leader for the team which is a tough spot.

In fact, being thrust in a leader position is probably why Garnet started over-relying on her future vision. She had to fill the spot Rose left for them, be the mature one as everyone processed their grief and keeping the team together, especially how prone to conflict Pearl and Amethyst were with each other earlier on before Steven stepped up to be the heart of the team.

So it just becomes this interesting if a little tragic and ironic thing that the very things Garnet preaches about and is a symbol of that others look up to, are the very things Garnet is really bad at.

TLDR

While Garnet is often seen as flawless or nearly perfect aside from her fusion with Ruby and Sapphire sometimes showing co-dependence, she does have significant flaws. Her biggest flaw is poor communication, which contradicts her emphasis on its importance in relationships. This flaw becomes especially apparent in her interactions with Steven, where her lack of guidance contributes to his struggles, such as in the proposal situation and the Korea thing.

Garnet’s over-reliance on her future vision also leads her to undermine others’ agency, assuming outcomes are inevitable rather than communicating and acting on them. This creates a paradox, as Garnet’s vision isn’t always accurate, she knows it isn't, she knows it isn't really future vision but a probability calculator and she often has blind spots and she herself is a result of that blind spot.

But Garnet still falls back to treating her visions as inevitable and misses opportunities to protect or support others, including Steven, by denying their and her own agency. Additionally, she sometimes avoids taking responsibility, particularly when it comes to the consequences of her lack of communication, and also using her future vision and fusion as an excuse in certain aspects.

Despite these flaws, it makes Garnet a more complex and compelling character, as dealing with her leadership role she was forced into after Rose's absence. Acknowledging her flaws gives depth to her character and emphasizes the show’s theme that no one is perfect.

[h-worksrambles]

Ok, so Episode Aigis dropped, they changed some dialogue and now people are pissed and saying P3 Reload ruined The Answer.

If you want my TLDR, Atlus’ changes (both writing and mechanical) for the DLC are overall small, some good some bad, but they’re ultimately band aids that fail to address the much wider flaws of The Answer as a story.

I think there’s a genuine intent to try and better get across the character’s motivations. And for some characters it works well. I think the new dialogue for Mitsuru is a genuine improvement. I’ve seen some criticise it for focusing more on Mituru’s thoughts towards the protagonist then her (rather queer coded) loyalty to Yukari. But as much as I love my SEES lesbians, I genuinely think giving Mitsuru multiple reasons to side with Yukari rather than just blind loyalty, is much more in character for her than FES’ approach (where she comes across uncharacteristically stupid). But I think by only changing minutia like this it just ends up highlighting the bigger problem.

A lot of people hyper focus on Yukari’s role and talk about how irrational she is here. And now you’ve got people complaining that Reload softens and sanitises her character and makes her storyline weaker. But I feel it’s a case of identifying something doesn’t work but being incorrect as to why.

The thing about the SEES group fight is that it’s fundamentally a really poorly done conflict. It sucked in FES and it sucks here too. There’s not enough meaningful disagreement between the group to make it feel earned. The only one acting out and taking the MC’s death badly, is Yukari. When really if this is the climax they wanted to build to, everyone should have been grieving badly and constantly at each other’s throats. It could have been this building frustration and animosity, until they’re all at odds over what to do with the key and a fight breaks out.

What we get is everyone…mostly being pretty chill, aside from Yukari being kind of petty and jealous at Aigis. And I think the reason people react badly to her (misogyny notwithstanding) is that it’s really weird when she’s the only one having this extreme reaction. Instead of everyone dealing with the MCs death in their own distinct way, it’s only explored with Aigis and Yukari and only somewhat. Hell if you didn’t have such a jarring disconnect, and there was a better variety of reactions and thoughts from across the cast, I think more people would praise Yukari’s writing here. As it stands, when everyone else is almost ridiculously reasonable, it looks very jarring.

And then when the group do fight it feels completely out of nowhere precisely because of how agreeable everyone’s been. Everyone willingly jumps into a pointless fight that could get them all killed, one that only one member of the group even wants. All for a very contrived plot point that was set up five minutes ago. It’s executed in such a sloppy way that it makes the genuinely good scene of Yukari’s breakdown ring hollow. You get the sense that the writers weren’t really interested in exploring Yukari’s grief beyond using it as a plot device to make a dumb, unnecessary punch up scene happen.

I can see what they’re trying to do in Reload. They wanted to make Yukari stick out like less of a sore thumb compared to the rest of the group. But if they were gonna do that, they kinda needed to dial everyone else up, not dial her down. Build the tension between the party further rather than decrease it. Because now, if Yukari, and by extension the rest of the party are way more reasonable, it just begs the question even more of ‘they why are you fighting in the first place?’ It’s slapping on a band aid in a way that just exposes the whole scenario’s weaknesses

I genuinely think Episode Aigis needed to either keep the Answer entirely as is, or overhaul it completely. Making little changes like this won’t win over people who hated The Answer the first time, and will just annoy people who liked it as is. As it stands, The Answer is still a mess of good ideas mired by poor execution and Reload’s take only makes a handful of small changes that are ultimately different, not better.

[shewolf-sinclair]

I HATE when people dumb down Jason Todd “he’s impulsive/irrational/erratic/brash/dumb/the angry robin!”

WRONG

let me break it down for you fools because he’s actually like one of the most nuanced and complex characters to ever bless my presence (and he’s the best ((my fav)) robin argue with the wall) (tldr at the end but please read the post)

Starting out as robin they are ALL orphans. because that’s like bruce’s thing. BUT dick and tim had families before bruce adopted them. Jason did not. HE GREW UP ON THE STREETS. (+10 points for truama✨) which led him to grow up to be independent and resourceful. Bruce literally met him because he was trying to steal the bat mobiles tires with the intent of reverse engineering them to sell to the people of gotham because bullet proof tires in that kinda city would save lives source

As for being brash. Yeah. he is. he lacks people skills because HE GREW UP ON THE STREETS. yet he still knows how to sympathize with people and not be an ass ALL the time. he’s cocky sure but it’s a defensive mechanism after years of being treated like he doesn’t have value/having to prove himself. and damien is worse lets bsffr.

He’s impulsive. (likely adhd) Teenager. next question.

He’s the angriest robin! he only ever wants vengeance! WRONG. dick is angrier! he was so petty he left gotham and got a new identity just as a fuck you to bruce. any anger Jason has is not unmatched or outdone by other robins and he is rightfully angry he’s been dealt a crappy hand in life. he’s jealous of dick because bruce was ALWAYS comparing him and telling heroic stories of dicks feats. it’s hard not to push yourself to be as good as or better than the og and not to crack under said pressure.

He’s dumb! NOPE. he is as smart if not smarter than tim. He is BRILLIANT when he wants to be. (see above: resourceful) if you take titans (cw) as canon (why wouldn’t u its as canon as any other tv show??) he is a GENIUS. he taught himself chemistry so he could invent and mass produce drugs. he had a genius strategy to fuck with the titans; the puzzle of clues for which dick needed scarecrow, kory, gar, and conner to solve. Not to mention him finding doctor light earlier in the season. He leads the outlaws bc he is a natural leader and good at handling the details!!

He’s a villain! OKAY AND? SO WAS HARLEY BUT WE LUV HER !! DAMIEN WAS A TRAINED ASSASAIN! he puts so much effort into helping people (see above: resourceful) HE RISKED/LOST HIS LIFE FOR IT. HE IS FIERCELY LOYAL. even as red hood he obtains a strict moral code; no drugs to kids or by schools, don’t kill innocent uninvolved people(depends on which media you’re looking at). serve karma on a gold platter. unlawful but USUALLY NOT unethical. he also becomes a vigilante (and the JL for a bit) and does so much good! none of them are perfect ALL of the time. and considering the other DC villains, he’s not that evil.

strength?? no problem! he almost beat dick and bruce several times in the comics!! source

not to mention his proficiency for new things (see above: chemistry) his whole time as robin he uses bat tech. but redhood uses guns and knives. he just picked that up and was a skilled marksman immediately. (also truama response after nearly dying to death stroke)

so what hes kinda fucked in the head. aren’t they all? isn’t that… the point? it’s justified after everything he’s been through AND it makes hims a better character, more 3D more realistic and relatable.

also for the sake of this thesis partially disregard the wonderful work of art that is WFA it’s a fixit. for a reason. because the it was broken and needed fixing.

TLDR; you don’t have to like Jason Todd, or think he’s the best Robin, but you have to admit, he is a complex, layered, well written character. And stop mischaracterizing him and dumbing him down to this impulsive, angry, weak kid.

bonus: my Jason playlist

[nedstarkfortnite]

Like and subscribe if you too suffered something tremendously from Sansa's character assassination in seasons 6-8 by Dumb and Dumber

No seriously what the fuck was that. I want to bring it up again because I see people feeling bad for other characters (rightfully so, don't get me wrong) but still Hate Sansa for virtually the same reasons they feel sorry for Tyrion or Jon. Can we all just agree these mouth pieces for D&D are not the characters we came to love, but cardboard cutouts of them drawn in crayon? I feel every character who made it to season 6 and beyond should get a "this is not what they would say/do, this is David and Dan being awful writers and completely disregarding themes and internal consistency" pass.

To me Sansa from season 6 onwards might as well be a new character. Nothing about her feels like Sansa. We came to know her as a dreamer who romanticized the world until it traumatized her with its brutality, she had to learn how to navigate it by figuring out what people wanted from her and by being innocuous and subdued in the eyes of her enemies. Her weakness was actually her strength all along.

What we ought to have seen from Sansa moving forward was a girl who learned how to balance the dream with reality, to figure out a way to fight for a better world without becoming too idealistic. We should have stayed in the Vale for some time to see her overcome Littlefinger (because let's be fucking real what they did to him in the show was not worth keeping him alive for). Her suffering would be something difficult for her to come to terms with, and I think she would still rather hope and dream than let it poison her heart. It was unjust and didn't need to happen.

And what did we get? Yeah, we got Sansa being raped for no reason other than shock value, being weirdly moody and argumentative with everyone ever because apparently women can only wield influence by being dickheads, trusting Littlefinger again and again despite her book counterpart immediately sensing his vibes were off, that whole nonsense with the sister feud (but it was all a ruse OOOOOOHHHH PLOT TWIST OOOHHHHH d&d burn in hell) and then somehow becoming a ruler of an independent North despite not really doing much at all or even interacting much with anyone. How will the North rebuild and sustain itself after the Long Night? Truly only seemed to last one night but you know what I mean. How come no one else wants to rule? Truly, what has Sansa the D&D Sock Puppet done to deserve this responsibility?

It truly broke my heart to see her being mistreated like this. Not to mention how Sansa as a female ruler would be virtually forced to remarry and give birth for the rest of her life while her new husband took over leadership. Nice. How progressive and girlpower oriented these two knuckleheads are. Yes, why not throw in a line about how being raped and tortured was actually a Good thing for Sansa, because it killed whatever softness and goodness (apparently "weaknesses") remained in her? Thanks David and Dan.

Tldr I mourn the Sansa we could have and should have gotten and D&D writing women makes them look like misogynists with concerning attitudes around power and womanhood.

[epicqtefail]

omg that IS insane. amazing too tho. do you already have lyrics for it? bc the idea is both terrifying and the best thing ive ever seen

LMAO thank you, honestly that is kindest thing that could be said about..... whatever the hell this stupid project is :'''^D

i DO have lyrics!.... however they've been an off-and-on struggle and continue to be,, and i've gone and accidentally written a whole Behind The Scenes ramble about coming up with lyrics for this really fuckin stupid ditty i ended up writing (all because i imagined a 5 second scene i really want to animate)... you do not have to read on.

before i ramble though, i need to shout out @ yayen-chan who a couple of years ago asked to see the lyrics i had, and sang over the piano recording. Their amazing voice and way they matched their tone to the vibe was so incredible that it made the lyrics feel 100000x better than on paper! they really inspired me to finish writing them.

the main issue i encountered was that i wanted the lyrics to be steeped in dramatic irony. this silly little imaginary scene takes place in the DBH plotline where Hank and Connor go consult Kamski about the case, except instead he's hanging out in his old office at some old cyberlife-facility-turned-android-museum/attraction-thing (he's still left cyberlife, but he finds everything surrounding it and deviancy all so very amusing and likes to chill out there. might be a little bit of egotism too if we're getting goofy, which i hope we are)

The Upgrade Your Future Attraction (as i've now lazily dubbed it) and its terrible jaunty song were created in the semi-early stages of the Cyberlife craze, when their androids were still a novelty. As such, it has aged very poorly. It sings about how great cyberlife androids will be for the working class everyman, how it means more time for your family and dreams and all that sickly stuff, how cyberlife guarantee a life of convenience and national prosper. We as the audience know this has not been the case, we also get the sense that Cyberlife also never believed in it either. The song is basically just an insincere marketing piece with some attempts to subtly acknowledge and downplay their past mishaps ("malfunctioning" murderous androids) which creates an underlying menacing vibe too. (i also imagine its still open to the public and they're still updating the ride because there's one part specific to Connor that i want to animate lmao)

But this kind of thing requires wryness, to cleverly balance both comedic subtlety and blatancy. i am just stupid and on-the-nose.. So knowing that i can't achieve exactly what i want has been a hard pill to swallow and has left me struggling to settle for the weak lyrics I initially had.

then a year later i managed to write some lyrics that are closer to what i want. But that has presented a more ridiculous issue: this whole idea was conceived 3-4 years ago, before A/I taking over became an actual genuine real life threat. It's gone from writing a piece grounded in my enjoyment of sci-fi capitalist dystopia to writing a piece that now coincidentally hints at a very hot topic in this real world capitalist hell. Not that sci-fi dystopia isn't grounded in real world topics, and not that anyone outside of a handful of people in the detroit fandom would see it anyway, but that's not what i set out to do. i set out to make dumb fanart and thats it. i have different things to say about blorbo universe than i do about evil in the real universe. this project literally stemmed from thinking what if dbh took itself less seriously and got silly with its themes.

So, lately i've been tweaking the lyrics to be less broad and more specific to dbh itself. and i reckon i could be done with that soon! (delusion). I would be desperate to share them, but im kind of still embarrassed about them :'''D there's lots of strange filler lyrics lmao

TLDR: I have lyrics that im willing to settle for, i just need to polish them and fill in some gaps and maybe stop overthinking it lol

[theyapper0]

How does Lute feel about what happened between her and Vaggie in your AU?

Lute is a commander dedicated to her cause, dedicated to Heaven, everything she knew and believed in was taught to Vaggie by HER. Vaggie was practically an EXTENSION of herself (both literally and figuratively)

I DO think that Lute cared for Vaggie, I think before Vaggie fell, they both cared for each other IMMENSELY. They literally did everything together even outside of training and stuff. BUT.....

My Lute is a very................. unemotional person. Like, she's cool to hang around with and stuff but, she's kinda like your emotionally distant dad. Her and Vaggie were close and I think Vaggie's 'betrayal' (that's how she sees it) really did hurt but since she's not one to want to or even have TIME to think about those feelings, Lute on the outside is cold and unaffected.

Okay this is long so rest is under the cut 😋

I think she tried reason with herself that this was BOUND to happen. 'Vaggie has always been too nice', 'she was never cut out for this anyway', 'She only got as far as she did by sheer dumb luck', stuff like that.

She tells herself this but on the inside, this shit hurts like a BITCH!!!!!!! Because FUCK!!!!!!!! They were each others' everything at one point!!!!! (In a familiar sense) Lute literally taught her eveything she knew!!!! She was her mentor!!!!! They LOVED EACH OTHER!!!!!!! And it fucking HURTS to know Vaggie had gone against Heaven and had broken one of their rules that Lute KNEW that she ALWAYS followed.

I imagine that sometimes, during the RARE instances that Lute finds herself with nothing to do, she thinks about Vaggie. She would wonder what made that Extermination Day any different from the THOUSANDS they've done before? What about one child made Vaggie do a complete one 180? What made Vaggie spare a Sinner?

(What would have happened if Lute pretended not to see Vaggie do it?)

But it happened and it was done. Lute HAD to de-wing Vaggie, she HAD to leave her in Hell. It was punishment. Heaven doesn't do second chances when it comes to the exorcists, it just doesn't work like that (Lute never questioned why).

And you can totally skip this part if you didn't read my fanfic (I wouldn't blame you for not LOL)

(SPOILERS BTW‼️‼️‼️)

Towards the 2nd of the fic, during the Extermination when Vaggie and Charlie reunite and Lute approaches them, Lute has on full Exorcist Angel armor obvi so the others can't see her face or how she's feeling IT'S A METAPHOR BC IM SO ARTSY FARTSY!!!!!!

Lute puts up these walls so no one, not even Vaggie, knows how she truly feels, she does this because of her position, so it makes sense for her walls to personify in her ARMOR!!

In the fanfic, the entire scene, Lute is paying NO MIND to Charlie, her attention is on Vaggie the whole time, which should be concerning as she's a literal exorcist and the princess of Hell is standing right in front of her.

It's a moment of weakness for Lute. She doesn't say anything but it was important that she saw Vaggie. She knew Vaggie would survive in Hell, not just because (at that point, what they all still believed) Angels couldn't die, but also Because, despite all the things Lute tried to convince herself about Vaggie after she was banished, she knew that Vaggie was tough, that she could handle anything.

The surprise wasn't seeing Vaggie, it was seeing Vaggie, narrow eyed (single eyed, because of her), and with her spear pointed at Lute.

Lute was now an enemy to Vaggie.

So Vaggie was an enemy to Lute.

TLDR; Lute did and STILL DOES care for Vaggie and she was SUPER upset about Vaggie sparing a Sinner and she does wish things turned out differently but has repressed her emotions so much that all she could reason within herself is that Vaggie got what was coming to her for betraying Heaven and after seeing her fight on the side of Hell, she understands that they're enemies for all of eternity

[thepartyponies]

Saw some people on Instagram saying dumb things about John 10:34-35, and by extension Psalm 82 that Jesus quotes.

From John 10:

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?

Psalm 82:

God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”:

“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”

Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

The argument was that Jesus here called the Jews “gods” (reasoning that if they’re gods then it’s not blasphemy for him to claim to be one), and that by extension christians are therefore also able to claim that title for themselves.

The problem is, Jesus isn’t referring to the Jews. He’s not referring to any humans. That would be an incredibly cheap cop-out in response to an accusation of blasphemy, especially since everywhere else he has no problem with making claims of divinity. He’s talking to the Jews, but the scripture he’s quoting isn’t.

The context of the rest of Psalm 82 tells us that when he says “you are gods”, he’s talking to the elohim, the divine council, the angelic beings with whom and through whom he rules the earth. See 1 Kings 22:19-22 for another example.

Jesus is claiming divinity here. He’s saying, “if they [angelic spiritual rulers, bene elohim sons of God] are gods, how much more do I, the unique Son of God, have a right to the title?”

TLDR humans aren’t gods, Jesus didn’t say that, that’s not how that works.

[brxkxnhxxrtsclxb]

Hii! Just wanted to ask if you saw Boruto leaks? (If you didn't, i'll just that it's over for Sarada😭).

hi anon :3 !!

sigh… a can of worms i didn’t want to open has been opened soooo…

long rant ahead:

[TLDR: this manga is a hot mess. sarada deserves not better, BUT THE BEST (i’m biased, she’s my fave so she only deserves the best)]

dear anon, i. am. tired. TIIIIRRRREEDDDD !!!!!

i’m sorry if this comes off as mean and rude and pls know i am not cussing you out (literally not directed at you, but at the manga) but WTF . respectfully, WHAT THE FUUUCCKKKK ??!! this manga is soooo i don’t even have the right words. well for one it’s ghetto. i can say that

so now we know chapter 10 WAS sarada’s fight this time skip. seems she’s for real gonna get the sakura treatment in being underutilized. sakura got her one fight against sasori and that was that UNTIL the war and fight against kaguya. seems sarada is unfortunately suffering the same fate. she got her dodging and chidori against hidari moment (which was literally the bare minimum tbh) and that’s it. WTF ._.

she’s being saved by we all know who YET AGAIN. it’s tiresome. why does she constantly need to be saved ?? we KNOW she’s capable to do her own thing. WE KNOW THIS !! she’s a shinobi dammit. her best moment was in the kawaki arc against boro and she’s never had another chance. that was all kodachi. i truly lament the day kodachi was let go (reasonable as to why but i didn’t realize how good we had it T_T). also, she has the other jonin with her so again, WTF. get them out of the way to give the MC yet another hero moment (same with himawari which doesn’t even makes sense. she got kurama now right ?? she got a huge power up somehow. tf she needs to be saved for?? hello ?? who’s writing this ??)

why IS sarada always being saved ?? they have her yapping about her goal to become hokage YET she’s done nothing to prove it (only did so by welcoming and befriending kawaki) and SHE IS THE ONE BEING SAVED !!!! the hokage’s job is to PROTECT THE VILLAGE !! she’s the one who is suppose to be doing the saving, not be saved!!!!! omg who IS writing this ??!!

i will say it’s possible the leaks are fake. i know this guy who said this is a reliable leaker but he also did say he wasn’t posting any since the chapter was dropping soon anyway. it’s possible he posted them so people could stop pestering him about them OR he just lied to, again, get these people off of him idk. of course there is the chance they’re true but that doesn’t matter anymore. this manga is fried. chapter after chapter, it’s the same washed stuff

kishimoto and ikemoto said it’d get dark and would be darker and better than naruto, that’s not true at all. fandom kept telling those outside of it (haters and those neutral to the manga) to give it time and how the time skip will get better. here we are now and nothing. it’s all… for what ??

they haven’t canceled this manga because reasons. and if that’s the case where they (jump) wanna keep it around, they’re better off canceling it while they still can and rebooting it tbh. they can use the same karma and otsutsuki plot line. it’s good. it works. all they need to do is hire an actual writer who knows what they’re doing and how to tell a story (like they did with kodachi), or idk a different mangaka who writes and draws and knows what they’re doing to work on it (like almost every manga). this isn’t any hate to ikemoto, but we know the man isn’t a writer. if that were the case we wouldn’t have needed kodachi from the start (shit, maybe ikemoto is the one doing everything which is why it’s all so contradicting and makes zero sense and so repetitive but this goes into conspiracy theory territory so i’ll leave it alone)

i’ll keep reading to see where they go with kawaki cuz i do like him too (and where is the lil vampire ?? where he ran off to?? hello ?? code, you there ??!!), but other than that this manga is a hot mess. notice how everyone in the ENTIRE CAST is dumbed down and weakened to make boruto look good ?? if you need to make your entire cast stupid in order for your main character to shine, you’re not a writer who knows what they’re doing and your main character sucks. your MC is boring and needs to be made to look cool and special by sacrificing the other characters. i’m sorry that’s SUPER RUDE, but that’s the truth and all there is to it. i can’t sugarcoat it :((

sorry for getting into a long rant anon. thank you for thinking of me and letting me know when seeing the leaks. i appreciate it🖤 it’s comforting to know someone sees things for the way they are. it IS over for sarada. as a fan of hers, i can say that cuz that’s what we’re getting. i’m not gonna sit here and be like “no she’s doing just fine”😭😭. only people i see defending this are shippers which is so stupid cuz that’s not the way to read shonen manga and not the main focus. you can have your ships, yes, but it’s literally not working in sarada’s favor AT ALL

idk. maybe it’s possible things will get better for sarada and i REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT IT TO. YAY if that does happen but she’s in the middle of combat and this is what we get for her :(( she doesn’t get fights. ZERO TIME TO SHINE and it’s so stupid. she’s the main heroine, please treat her like it

imma go and cry in a corner now (not literally lmao) cuz my girl only deserves the best and that’s not boruto cuz all he does is hinder her character and potential😖

i am not okay with any of this T_T

[minniiaa]

I like to age Luffy up like 1-3 years in my stories not just because I prefer writing a bit older characters (it’s not that deep I just remember how dumb I was at 19 and cringe) but because I have this headcanon that Luffy is one of those guys who fully develops a little later.

In those years his voice gets a little deeper, he grows an inch or two (still a short king he’s just like 5’8-5’9 now), the roundness in his face fades and his jawline is more defined. His muscles are even more pronounced than in Wano and he’s got biceps for days. He still keeps his goofy personality but it’s way funnier and cuter when he acts like that with a manly body.

Anyway, tldr; I’m weak for buff top Luffy (Law is too)

[pacifistcowboy]

Can you rattle off question 16 for your Sol Ocs (whichever ones you have enough development on)?

I imagine theyll be opposite ish their counterparts, but am intrigued!

(16 is biggest strengths)

ooo thank u for askin’!!! sorry this took so long to reply to, i did a lot more than just rattle off jscjsjcj

sol-shadow’s biggest strengths in terms of like, skills are ice-skating, which she can do as fast as blaze can run, n i haven’t really thought about her fighting style, but she’s definitely efficient in using her cryokinesis. i imagine when she first shows up in blaze’s time her go-to would be using icicles to stab enemies, but after goin’ through the whole hullabaloo of self-reflection n whatnot, she decides to learn to use her powers in a way where she just immobilises enemies instead of kill them.

in terms of personality, sol-shadow’s biggest strength is how dedicated she is to other people. she does NOT want to be alone so she will do anything for someone if she thinks that means they’ll stick around. she also cares a lot about honouring what pierce (her brother) wanted for the people of the sol empire, in a very similar manner to the way og-shadow is with maria’s wish. however, sol-shadow’s a little forgetful i guess n doesn’t have a great grasp on what’s right or wrong, so sometimes she’ll already be doing something before she realises it’d be something her brother would’ve probably discouraged her from doing, or she can’t fully tell if it’s a good or bad thing. i guess she’s more of a ‘help this one person’ than a ‘help the greater good’ kinda person which isn’t really a strength or a weakness!

(so uh since writing this ^^^ i have realised i should probably have sol-shadow and sol-rouge swap ‘roles’ because blaze’s ‘role’ is much more like knuckles so it’d make more sense for her rival to be more like rouge than shadow, but i haven’t figured out how much needs to be changed around or how i’ll make it work so i’ll still share what i originally wrote for sol-shadow. i’ll have to figure out why she’d be a thief and possibly an agent or something of that style)

thorn’s (i’ve decided sol-amy’s name is thorn :]) biggest strength in terms of skill is swordsmanship. he’s self-taught so he doesn’t know any like formal ways of sword-fighting, but he knows how to attack and defend effectively n that’s all that matters to him.

in terms of personality i’d say thorn’s biggest strength is that he’s probably very focused and detail-oriented given how much he worries about things going wrong. he has no faith in winging it so he’d make sure everything is thought out and would notice things other people overlooked, but he’d always point them out in a way where it sounds like he’s more calling people dumb for not noticing rather than trying to be helpful. so i guess tldr he’s good at catching problems! but i don’t think he’s good at solving them :/

mittens’ biggest strength skill-wise is her physical strength which she’s much better at using to carry or move objects than to fight, simply because she tries not to use her strength violently. if she had to fight someone using her physical strength she’d probably accidentally kill them ‘cause she doesn’t know exactly how powerful she is. she also figured out how to use her aerokinesis in a way where she can subdue enemies without hurting them, which is her go-to move against people instead of using her physical strength. she can also use her aerokinesis to fly but chooses not to because she simply prefers walking.

personality-wise mittens’ biggest strength is her patience. she will always try to talk things out and find a peaceful solution and pretty much never loses her temper. she likes to give people the benefit of the doubt but she doesn’t just suddenly wholeheartedly trust them, more just has faith that every person can change.

i feel so bad that i cannot think of a single skill sterling has ahdjwjfjwjf. she can see the future but that’s involuntary. i guess she’d eventually have to get good at finding clues and asking the right questions since she’s the only one who can see and interact with the future for a short time to figure out what caused it. she also might eventually learn to control when the visions happen but that’ll take time and be a constant effort. she’s very much a normal person who just accidentally gained a special ability.

again, i can’t really think of what sterling’s biggest strength would be personality-wise fjhfjwhd i SWEAR she’s a good kid and i love her!!! she just spends too much time trying to stay out of the way and doubting herself to really let herself shine :( i guess i could say she’s very modest and you can trust her follow orders since she doesn’t trust her own judgement, but those aren’t exactly strengths, more like positive twists on poor confidence. she also doesn’t know social etiquette so she always skips the unnecessary waffling n stuff when you talk to her, so i guess that’s a good thing! as long as you don’t perceive that as rude n appreciate not having to participate in dumb social rules wndnwnfb sterling doesn’t even do it on purpose, she just never picked up on the stuff you’re “supposed” to do. i know that trait isn’t very opposite to silver, but it was rather difficult to make a character contrast silver since he himself has rather conflicting traits, so i said fuck it and picked one main part of silver to give sterling the opposite personality of, then let the rest of her form on its own

sol-vector’s biggest strength when it comes to skill is probably her orderliness. she is much stronger than the average person, but not freakishly strong like mittens, and she only uses her physical strength when it’s necessary, not like it’s her specialty, which is why i’m sayin’ her work ethic is her best quality. she’s adamant about checking every clue, following every step, and only going after a bad guy once absolutely certain they’re the culprit, not just goin’ off assumptions and vibes. this can be seen as either a strength or a weakness, but sol-vector thinks it’s a strength so ajdjsjc she also tries to refuse when random people ask for the sol-chaotix help since they actually work for the sol empire and are assigned jobs, so to her that’d be like breaking the rules, but if someone is in need of enough help, her compassion outweighs her need to follow the rules.

i guess sol-vector’s skill-strength is also kinda her personality-strength?? she sticks to her guns and doesn’t give up on doing things the ‘right’ way (her version of right, idk if i can say it is The Right Way), and it comes from a place of wanting to make sure the wrong person doesn’t get in trouble and that the sol-chaotix genuinely do a good job at helping people and protecting the world.

sol-espio’s greatest strength skill-wise is her aim. i’ve decided she’s a cowboy n not a sumo wrestler so she uses revolvers to fight and she is absolutely awesome at shootin’. she can handle multiple enemies at once, is a perfect shot, and has the time of her life doin’ it. if she runs out of bullets she resorts to just throwing her guns at enemies which she makes work!

sol-espio’s greatest strength personality-wise is her enthusiasm. she’s full of energy so she never loses steam, and she’s always in the mood for action. she’s constantly looking for someone to fight but she won’t hurt innocent people. she keeps situations lighthearted and banters with absolutely everyone…she just sounds like sonic doesn’t she :/ i’ll say i think she’s a lot more intentionally irritating than sonic, and has much less patience when listening to people. ig she doesn’t mind not being friends with ppl while i think sonic tries to befriend everyone he meets at least once

sol-charmy’s biggest skill-strength is her attention to detail. she’s very quiet and observant, and always wanders away from the group just looking at everything. most people gravitate towards the big, obvious things, but her brain doesn’t work like that, so she notices the little details and usually ends up finding the important clues first. being a spider, she can also climb and stick to walls n ceilings, and given her size and natural quietness, she’s good at going unnoticed. she’s also a good artist and poet, but idk how well i can show that given that i’d be the one writing her poetry lol (she can also probably shoot webs out her butt ‘cause y’know; spider, n could also maybe use it like rope? but i haven’t explored that yet)

sol-charmy’s biggest personality-strength is how insightful and a deep thinker she is. she doesn’t take things at face value, and she really cares about truly understanding someone or something. she’s very introspective, constantly writing and drawing how she feels, and although she’s very shy, if she sees someone is struggling she’ll try to support them, albeit by just kinda silently being near them and giving them a face of “i understand and i’m here for you.”

so i hadn’t written about sol-rouge before deciding i’m gonna change it so he’ll have og-shadow’s ‘role’ more than og-rouge, but his personality would still be a contrast to og-rouge, so i now don’t really have a grasp of sol-rouge anymore. i’m probably gonna have to skip him for this ‘cause i need to figure out how he’ll have skills like og-rouge but not identical, how they’ll be useful for someone not a thief, how he’ll still have og-rouge’s core selfishness(??) while no longer being a thief, what exactly og-shadow’s “role” is and how to apply it to sol-rouge, and how to make sure he’s actually different to og-shadow ‘cause i think they’re a bit too similar at the moment. this character’s a tough one D:

i haven’t developed my sol-cream, sol-big, or shelly organik enough to answer for them, but i do know that sol-big is a very good birdwatcher :] if that’s a thing one can be good at

thank u again for being interested in my funky characters and i am SO sorry that this was not remotely succinct

[moonslaura]

rotten woods  —

tldr: former camp counselors who survived a cross-country trek after the blast, vaguely based on the breakfast club.

please note that below the cut there are vague mentions to the demise of like...so many people.

 

LABOR DAY, CAMP IDLEWOOD —

SEPTEMBER 2020 - After another idyllic summer in the Kennebec Valley, Maine, CAMP IDLEWOOD has emptied out, leaving behind the staff to pack up the canoes, close down the barn, and lock up the cabins. But first, there’s the end of the year bonfire, where beer flows steadily and counselors enjoy the camp just a little for themselves. It teeters on the edge of a John Hughes movie and a bacchanal for the most part, but THE BLAST turned IDLEWOOD summer slasher. How they survived ranges anywhere from happening to be down in a basement to drag out more frozen burger patties to other strokes of dumb luck. But when the sun rose, all that was left were five twenty-somethings in the gore-splattered woods. Not friends, not all of them at least, and certainly not prepared to explain what had just happened -- they buried what they could and cooled their heels. Someone would come, right? Some sort of authority?    PRESENT DAY - Bound together mostly out of necessity, the IDLEWILDE FIVE mostly stumbled their way to outpost in Carlsbad by accident. As conditions grow worse, they’re thinking of trying their luck on the outside once again. 

“THE PRINCESS” / OPEN / RESERVED FOR MOLLY Formerly a camper, THE PRINCESS came back to IDLEWOOD because she loved it, point blank, and spent the summer ensuring that GIRLS BUNK A had equally sunny memories. Perhaps: a silver-spoon daughter of a scion with soft hands, she’s taken the end of the world mostly in stride, despite possibly being unnfairly established as a weak link at the start of their adventure. She’s worked tirelessly to keep the group together and perhaps indulge in their humanity more often than not. What’s the point in surviving if there isn’t anything to look forward to?  “THE ATHLETE” / OPEN / RESERVED FOR JAY Tapped astThe de-facto leader as they stuck out from CAMP IDLEWOOD after THE BLAST. The prototypical golden boy, a consummate optimist, product of generational wealth — THE ATHLETE almost found a thrill in everything going shit-sideways. For once: there wasn’t a playbook to follow, no more eventual picket fence with 2.5 kids and a golden retriever, no more family firm and corner office or endless games of golf looming in his future. Currently, the most skeptical about leaving the safe-haven of Carlsbad, his constant optimism is starting to fail him. A straight shooter, a Fred Jones archetype, but who stays the same when the world ends? “THE CRIMINAL” / DARCY FARRELL / RESERVED 4 THE #1 CROCS APOLOGIST (SAV) He spent the majority of summer in the craft yurt or slipping off to smoke on the jetty dreaming of the different life he would have when he finally got the fuck out of dodge. Had a kindred relationship with “THE BASKETCASE” out of all of them before THE BLAST, though perhaps he didn’t quite understand how deep that went for her. A never-do-well that was only sort of straightened out after the apocalypse. A townie who had a golden ticket out of Maine, but that got blown to shit with THE BLAST. Adaptability is with its weight in gold these days, and he’s not gambling on Carlesbad anymore. “THE BRAIN” / NAME NAME / OPEN Took the job at CAMP IDLEWOOD because he thought it would help differentiate his already packed resume going into INSERT IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL HERE. THE BRAIN has always been determined to move up and onwards, high school sucked but eventually, he’d be the one to call the shots. Perhaps he wasn’t the most popular counselor at camp, but he’s found his opportunity to be a team player in the apocalypse, despite initial misgivings about “THE ATHLETE”. A “well rounded overachiever” in a previous life, THE BRAIN’S encyclopedic knowledge about science fiction constructed the “Don’t Be Stupid Rules” that have more or less kept them out of trouble as they trekked across the country. Sometimes feels like an unsung hero, but hey — the meek inherit the Earth, right? “THE BASKETCASE” / NAME NAME / RESERVED FOR BRETT Probably didn’t have any business (desire or inclination) being a camp counselor, but when your mom is the longtime camp director, it was more or less an expectation. Something of a loner, avoided the general jocularity of her coworkers and preferred to spend time by herself in the sick-bay or waiting for “THE CRIMINAL” to put down his hemp bracelets for a minute. Unrequited pining aside, the BASKETCASE has become something of their walking first-aid kit, but is itching to be a little braver at the end of times. Has certainly found her voice and a purpose in Carlesbad, and while she isn’t eager to strike out again, she figures that it's better to stick together than to be alone. 

[tumbling-rocks-no-danger]

TLDR at the bottom

CW: mention of school shootings

As a villain, Vecna is incredibly weak writing-wise. Stranger Things is sci-fi horror with cosmic horror elements, both of which tend to place emphasis on the gaps in the human understanding of our universe, and how humans MAY not be the greatest threat. There is typically a focus on what we DON’T know. The first three seasons stuck to this, really pushing the inhumanity of the monsters from the UD, and leading with a foreboding and little understood antagonist in the Mind Flayer. The show was able to hold onto some of the horror through how little we truly knew.

The Mind Flayer was never a character. Sure, it had thoughts, intentions, and even feelings, but it was ultimately an obstacle. It was a force of evil, with no determinable logic to its actions. So much could be done with this.

The writers could have given the Mind Flayer a reason to do what it was doing. Maybe it hates humanity, maybe it’s lonely, maybe it’s growing to large to simply reside in the UD. Maybe the Mind Flayer needs to feast on empowered beings to grow stronger, or maybe it’s a prisoner in the UD. They could have moved forward with any number of plans for the series. Any of these could maintain the horror, and maybe even ramp it up. The series could leave us with a number of meaningful and heartbreaking scenes as well due to its plot structure (A-plot, or the UD arc; B-plot, or the Hawkins arc; and the C-Plot, or the emotional arc).

Unfortunately, we are left with a human villain. A human villain who is treated as a force of nature, which is, in itself, contradictory. The allure of a human character is the complexity. A strongly written human character has layered motives, physical weaknesses AND emotional weaknesses, human experiences. Admittedly, Vecna hates humanity due to how they treated him as an outcast. Superficially, this is a strong motivation for a human villain, even if they are unnecessary. When thinking critically about this, however, it is quite hamfisted. Vecna is meant to be a cautionary tale of the consequences of bullying and a parallel to Will Byers, though I feel it to be heavily cliched and outdated.

We shouldn’t welcome people into communities out of fear, we should welcome them because they are people. When the overwhelming majority of media with an anti-bullying message portrays the other as dangerous and not to be trifled with. The common rhetoric around school shootings in particular is often that the shooter(s) were victims of bullying who snapped. This denies reality, as the most famous examples of this portrayal goes back to the columbine shooters, who were not victims of bullying as far as we know. There is a reason why a majority of school shooters are cishet white guys rather than queer people or poc despite the latter facing much more bullying and harassment. Bullying doesn’t “create monsters” it victimizes vulnerable people, most of which do NOT go on to attempt genocide against humanity. Privilege c

The Villain of Stranger Things should never have been Vecna and his inclusion makes me so angry. I don’t know if this makes sense.

TLDR: Vecna as a villain is unnecessary and removes the mystery and cosmic horror elements from the show, essentially leaving a sci-fi thriller. Also the story of Vecna as a cautionary tale is irresponsible and dumb.

[unoisveimved-un-proffesional]

That'd be all fine and dandy if you were a god, but you're not a god, you're a goddamn animal.

"a sustainable pace that people have the time to adjust to." And other fairy tales we tell children.

That's not a "reasonable adult", this is just Pseudo-Mature Juvenile Idealist vs Strawman Anarkiddie.

One of these opinions makes the effort to sound reasonable, but they're both living in an idealist fantasy. They're both disconnected from reality. You can't control the pace of change, you especially can't do change in a comfortable way, it's always uncomfortable, and you just have to grit your teeth and get through it. Do you honestly think yourself or the thoughts and feelings of any other human being so important that time itself will stop to accommodate you? Grow the fuck up. It doesn't matter how much you say you know about how violent and harmful the current system is or how to transition seemlessly into a less harmful one, you act like you don't know shit.

Neither of the simple minded opinions expressed in the post work, because all they do is put themselves at the center of the universe, valuing what would be best and most comfortable for them personally. They don't go at the pace of the world and then whine and bitch when it doesn't match them. The world waits for no one, it leaves heads everywhere spinning, and it doesn't care who has time to adjust for it. You can battle everyone else on tumblr big brain to brain but you're both crushed by actual reality. You look like a fool, a limp wristed coward with a weak back and a sensitive stomach who wants things to happen comfortably, and if not comfortably, not happen at all.

Newsflash bestie, reasonable adults don't have to call attention to the fact that they're reasonable adults, and it doesn't make you look smart, and it doesn't make you look cool, it just makes you look like a desperate poser. The first thing you should learn when you become an adult is that there are no reasonable adults, yourself included. You willingly and consciously dumb down the opinions of your critics into a straw man to beat in front of an audience. It's not an oversight, or a misunderstanding, you're just a frightened selfish animal like everyone else on this planet, working closer to your own personal comforts. You think you're better than these people, but you're not, you're basic. You're no better, you don't know any better. You. Ain't. Shit. Mate.

tldr; Fuck you I'm drunk as shit.

a reasonable adult: Instead of operating by this extremely harmful and violent system that causes constant long-term damage, I think we should slowly transfer to a less-harmful system, gradually moving from the current conventions to less and less damaging ones in a sustainable pace that people have the time to adjust to. a tumblr intellectual who has never been outside: No. Evil. Die. We must all jump right into an extremely radical Perfectly Perfect System created in my image, and everyone who can't or won't just jump into doing something completely different than what they're used to doing, in one single step overnight, is a Bad And Evil Stupid Person and must be punished with violence until they stop being Bad And Evil.

[pleasantspark]

why do you talk like a villain monologue

Because I'm someone who actually is angry. It's not some "TV show" when a bunch of adults and false allegations run amok.

You think I speak like an anime villian when I'm genuinely pissed off about how a person can twist the narrative and be perceived as a victim when I literally don't have the proper emotional regulation to actually convey it.

People generally think it's some sort of "Haha. You sound like Joker" or "Haha look at this Anime villian."

I'm angry because people accuse me of the most obvious false shit and still wants to insist "I'm guilty" when I ask for the proof and they just block me to talk shit about me to hype up some penultimate takedown.

That's why Red doesn't have any of the so called evidence of grooming from a 16 year old LARPING me because she's actively lied while engaging in Mega Man Diddy Parties willingly, LARPING as some online family with a alleged 12 year old (Who said they were 13. Still doubt they were actually 12.)

Then there's Hunter, who has a history of pulling the same mindgames as Red, by completely lying about the most serious of allegations that many have still spread about the main figureheads of the critic community.

I'm only dragged into this high school drama because I said a drama was retarded. 💀💀💀 I made my stance clear. Don't like it then you could ignore and block. I didn't want to be involved in this mess because it's borderline cringe and toxic to argue with people but because Tumblr and it's community has people who abuse the English Language and I wanted to nip that shit in the ass before shit happens it led to this.

So, anon why do you THINK I'm angry and I speak like Light from Death Note? If Hunter and his friends can crash out about SNCA then I can too. People genuinely doesn't have any respect for others opinions and act like it's a big deal when it's not.

"But you were mean first!" - I literally responded in a joking manner because it seemed like it was a joke.

"but you dragged this on." - I only bring up shit if it's reoccurring and it happened.

I'm not gonna really speak about anything anymore but genuinely, if you find issue with this then I'm not rly to blame. I holster most of the blame for acting out but in the end if you had a problem you'd talk to me. Painting me as unstable when clearly I'm mad about the sneaking behind ones back is ableist and is an actual example of using ones mental health as an excuse to ignore them. If it was for the sake of muh mental health then you'd take into account the stress it brings. If it weren't for one person blocking Hunter he would keep doing this.

So no. I'm not apologizing for jack shit. Red and her cronies made me apologize so many times for shit I didn't do that apologizing for dumb shit is pointless. Apologizing for saying a word I legally can say is the most weak willed shit ever and it won't ever be sincere.

But I do apologize for the bullshit this community faced this entire month. It's just ridiculous that everyone including me couldn't just co exist without slapfighting or encouraging toxic behavior over stupid edgy adult shows.

I'm over it. If people still believe what was said about me then continue drinking the Kool aid. I'm done crashing out about blantly false allegations and appeasing to some crowd I don't like.

I hate critical community and I hate myself and how I've became someone I'm not. I had such a hard time leaving when I want to because it feels like a abusive relationship I've been in. I just want to do DBZ content. But I can't leave because people follow me for "critical content" I'm just tired. People want me to be open but I can't. So here it is good night. I just wanna talk about DBZ.

Tldr: genuine anger is different from LARPING buddy.

[lieselotte-sky]

Great Britain, you are no longer part of EU!

…and it was your decision. As that american clown without a red nose, but with a red switch, started its own circus, I realized something creepy rising up near the Western Europe. Great Britain is not an Europe (and never was, I am that "dumb person from the continent"), furthermore, they are no longer part of EU, they just decided to opt out. There are still some regulations, that are, in fact, same to EU's ones, but their decision that something breaks these regulations should not have any impact on EU itself as they are no longer in control on what's going on in EU, correct?

Leider nicht, they, for some reason, started to behave like EU is no more independent, they treat it as if it is a part of their so called commonwealth or what and this is something I definitely don't like. They started to spread feeling, that if they (for any reason) ban something, then it is banned in the whole EU. E.g. they banned Tesla's Cybertruck claiming it unsafe. OK, это ваше дело, but then I started to see titles like EU banned Cybertruck and if I read the whole article (which is something, that people doesn't do so often, because of TLDR;) I realize it was GB who banned that thing. Whis is even more piculirious due to the fact, that they drive on the left side of the road with rules completely different to the rest of the EU.

This is not one isolated issue, so I give you yet another example. GB partially banned ciphering. The most visible part of that was their negotiations with Apple, but it was in fact only tip of an iceberg. Then I saw something like EU breaks the ciphering which is exactly the opposite to what EU is doing right now.

Looking at what's going on in GB, I am almost sure they are heading to the same hell as USA does, but on a less powerful horse as they lack that Horrorklaun ohne rote Nase öber mit rotem Knopf. In fact, these countries are historically tight together (despite that Boston tea thing and similar issues) and they are facing the same destiny, but I heavily stand against this to become the destiny of whole EU!

It's worth to mention that GB was the element that always blocked the negotiations leading to tighter integration of European Union countries, making it almost uncontrollable Moloch which at the end of the day upsets a lot of EU citizens. They forced it not to develop into simple constitution with heavy political responsibility, which is crucial to any democratic country, which brings a huge chain of consequences like non existent united european army, which compared to what's going on in the Ukraine is a kind of unfortunate.

I am referring to them as Great Britain as I strongly believe that it is Great Britain who is mostly in control of that whole United Kingdom and I don't want to accidentally blame nations that has weak to no control of that whole thing.